"I'd be a fool not to be a little bit afraid."

"I'd be a fool not to be a little bit afraid. But if I'm too afraid, I'm frozen. " Alex Gibney

I was caught by these words during the CBS Sunday Morning program this past week. Mr. Gibney acknowledges the need for fear. We know in recovery and Yoga that we need to learn how to know our emotions without being frozen.

Fear, unmanaged, can turn into panic and paranoia. As a practicing addict, I faced my emotions by numbing them, by medicating them. I did not know how to face my emotions and grow from them. Working the 12 steps gives me a progressive practice of coming face to face with my emotions. Yoga has offered me an opportunity to truly know the depth of my emotions AND allow them to lead me to my Divinity. Breath, pranayama, offers a break in my mind's habit of avoidance. Breath offers me an opportunity to choose the direction of my emotions. Breath brings me to the present, the emotion, and the experience of action. Here we experience the science of life that allows us to practice our move toward the grace of Divinity.

As we practice our emotions, we can allow fear to advance our wisdom and sense of protection. In our 12 step process, we progressively practice emotional growth. In our Yoga, we systematically practice deepening the integration of our mind, body and Spirit. We do this as a people in relationship to each other and the world. In our practice, we become aware of the peace of self, within which we know rest and restoration with our God.